Three things you like about your DOG and one thing you are working to improve

[Laurelin]

Mia: I want to say I love her awesomeness and everything about her, lol.

1. I just love HER. I don't know how to word it but her personality is just so much fun. So eager and happy and funny.
2. Energy level. Also lots of fun and always up for a game
3. Attentiveness to her handler. She's stuck like glue to me almost all the time. She's always eager to train and always looking and focused on me.

Least favorite thing is her size but that's not something 'fixable'. Well I guess I could make her weigh more but you know what I mean.

We are working on her fear issues with strangers but she's really to a point I'm pretty happy with. She's great around people in close proximity and she was even coming to my trainer. She still does not like people that are overly aggressive about getting her to like them, but I don't blame her.

Summer

1. Her sweet and endearing personality. She is really a good dog. I have never met a sweeter dog.
2. She tries SO hard all the time.
3. Handler orientedness. She's great in almost any situation

My least favorite thing is how neurotic she can be when it comes to licking. We're working on it but if she gets worried about something, she licks like crazy. Drives me insane.

 

[CharlieDog]

Ozzy

1. I love how he's totally up for whatever, whenever
2. He is the best in the morning snuggler.
3. He's got amazing ups.

I wish he wasn't so pushy with Knox and so reactive on leash. We're working on both.

Enzo.

1. Hands down one of those "good dogs" just on a soul level.
2. The sweetest dog ever.
3. Always easy to teach something new to.

I wish she didn't have such terrible separation anxiety.

Knox.

1. Hilarious.
2. Easy to train, by far the quickest learner.
3. His size is awesome.

I want him to play with meeeeeeee.

 

[Sekah]

It's no secret how crazy I am for Cohen. She really is a neat dog.

Favourite things:
1. Her biddability. She's always game for whatever I ask of her, and catches on to new concepts very quickly.
2. Her attachment to me. She has incredible focus for me whether we're working or relaxing. She's attached to my hip almost constantly.
3. The way she looks. I love watching her move: the way the sunlight glistens off her fur is gorgeous, she's lean and just rippling with muscle.

Working to improve:
Her desire to scrounge food from the environment. She's fine at home (I could leave a steak on the floor and she'd leave it alone) but as soon as we're outside everything is fair game. She disappeared on a walk a while ago to scrounge a nearby garbage dump while I panicked when she wouldn't recall.

 

[yoko]

Yoshi
Her attitude. She's always happy. She's one of those dogs that never has a bad day.

How vocal she is. If she doesn't want to do something she'll grumble if she's excited she'll 'talk'

She loves people. I never have to worry when there are kids around. I'll def watch them to make sure she's comfortable but kids falling/screaming around her, hard petting playing with the same toys she just loves having people around her. She makes me be social.

The only thing is I wished she walked better on a leash. She loves people and gets so excited seeing other people that will potentially love on her she can pull if you don't stay on top of it the whole time.

 

[Upendi&Mina]

Cara:

1. I love how bonded she is with me and the fact that her first priority every morning even before going potty is to cuddle.
2. Her enthusiasm during training and how quickly she picks new concepts up.
3. Definitely her sense of humor and her sassiness.

She can be over exuberant when greeting guests so we're working on keeping all four on the floor.

Upendi:

1. Her ears. <3
2. How easygoing she is, she is honestly the easiest dog I've ever lived with. She's content to lounge around and observe.
3. Her tolerance for all other dogs, no matter how rude they may be.

Definitely nail trimming, it sucks bad that she has to be sedated to have her nails done. She was my first puppy and I paid dearly for the mistake of not messing with her feet enough when she was young...never again

Mina:

1. How quickly she picks things up in training.
2. Her build, she's very nicely balanced.
3. Her love of children

I would definitely love if she hadn't developed severe same sex aggression.

 

[RD]

Love:

1. Her intelligence
2. Her devotion
3. Her intuition

Working on:

Hatred of other dogs in her space

 

[maxfox426]

1) Morgan WANTS to be a good dog so very, very much. So much so that he listens even when he knows he doesn't like what's coming next. (Example: He will still lie down and wait despite the fact he knows I'm going to squirt medicine in his ear.) He's mostly easy to train, because he is extremely motivated just to please me. He actually has a little dance that he does when I tell him he's a good boy.

2) He's a sweetheart of a "big brother" to Justin. He's careful where he puts his feet near the baby, he lies patiently while being poked and grabbed, and generally just likes to be close by. They are just buddies. At the same time, he's also not aggressively protective. I don't have to worry about Morgan trying to eat a babysitter.

3) Big. Brown. Eyes. Bigbrowneyes. BIG BROWN EYES.


- Morgan has a few training flaws. The one we are actively working on right now is the way he greets people at the door. He has a bad habit of rushing up to people in a frantic show of joy, complete with barking and jumping and being a general nuisance. :thumbdown: (In Morgan's defense, part of the problem is that my MIL thinks this is SO CUTE and never listens when I tell her "Seriously, DO NOT HUG HIM WHEN HE JUMPS ON YOU!!!!!11!!!!1!" AAAAAAAAUGH!!!!! ... She's not the only offender, but the most common one.)

He's getting better, but it is a sloowwwwww work in progress. We've gotten to the point where he voluntarily goes and waits in the next room as we answer the door, but is still crazy when we release him to say "hi".

 

[skittledoo]

Bamm-
1. He's so devoted to me. This dog is very velcro and sometimes to the point of it being annoying, but I can't help but love how devoted he is to me. He loves being wherever I am and he would protect me with his life if need be.
2. His big smile.... Once you see his happy smile in person it sort if melts your heart a bit.
3. He's such a handsome dog with a ton of personality.

What I would like to change. Honestly I wish he wasn't so fear reactive to people/dogs and I wish he didn't have such bad anxiety. Thats pretty much what we have been working on and while he is improving some, I do wish we could get to the point where we can pasa a dog on a walk and him not react and I wish I could get him to the point where I can trust him around people without him randomly deciding to freak out.

Cricket-
1. She's amazing. This dog is near perfect and I LOVE her and don't know what I would do without her.
2. How unique looking she is with her great little personality to match.
3. She's GREAT with other dogs, new situations and most people. I can pretty much take her anywhere and I do.

What I would like to change. I wish she wasn't so sensitive to certain people and noises. At home she will bark and growl at any slight noise coming from outside our place. It doesn't matter if you tell her to knock it off... She will keep right on. We're working on teaching her that its ok to alert to a noise, but one bark is more than enough. I socialized her a LOT with people when she was younger, but she still gets a little fearful with random people. It doesn't happen very often at all, but when she does she just barks at the person nonstop and backs away. Eventually she will go up to the offending person and decide she loves them, but the first few min she is afraid of them. I can count on one hand the people she has done this with so it really does not happen often at all, but it's something I wish she didn't do.

 

[smkie]

Victor
intelligence
physical grace
emotional beauty

one thing..As victor is getting older, he has less tolerance for situations like annoying small dogs, annoying children, and he has to go out more often. THe one thing I have worked on changing is not with him but with me. He has done amazing things imo and doesn't want to do it anymore. That's ok, we have with all my hope and heart years of creeks and woods and fires to sit in front of. That is what I am going to give him.

Pepper
Intelligence
physical beauty
her ability to communicate

Her jealousy, she wants so badly to be first, and even when she gets the chance to be, she still is after Vic, not in a vicious way, but she does body slam him. She plays too rough and I understand but wish she didn't because then Victor would play with her more. I don't see a way to say, hey, easy with those feet on Vic your scratching him to pieces. They are short, and filed, but it still leaves some mean welts. she is Edward Scissortoes. Her nails are made of steel.

 

[Lizmo]

Blaze:

1) His devotion to me.
2) His love of people and animals.
3) His eager desire to do anything I ask of him.

-Working on his lie down. Seems like some days on sheep it will be the death of us, but I know it just takes time.

Lizzie:

1) Her intuition.
2) Her bond with me. She is my first dog, and there is just something special and different between out bond.
3) Her happiness shines through.

-Not really working on anything specific, ATM. I'm doing handstand work with both dogs.

 

[Specsy]

Bella:

1) Her sensitivity to my emotions, body language, and commands.
2) How easy it is to teach her house manner related things, like learning not to bump tables and getting off the couch when she sees someone needs a spot without having to ask her etc.
3) Her smile!

The ONLY thing I want to change about her, is her animal aggression.

 

[Taqroy]

Murphy
1. His approach to life is so easygoing. He's happy just to be alive and here and with us.
2. He's SO tolerant of Tipper and Mu. And they are so very obnoxious sometimes.
3. The adorable way he rolls over on his back anytime I pass within five feet of him so that I can rub his belly. And the big eyes he gets when his ears are rubbed. And the way he sneezes after getting lots of love.

1 thing to change - I wish he was better at interacting with male dogs. He's really terrible with it and even though I've been working on his leash reactivity I still don't trust him off leash with most males.

Mu
1. She's so eager to learn. She wants to know what I want, when I want it and half the time she's offering it before I say anything.
2. She's ROCKING agility. I had no idea she had that much...spunk in her. It's amazing and so much fun to watch her blow through ever single thing we put in front of her. She tried to jump on the chute yesterday and fell off onto the fabric part (which scared her and me), shook it off, and was ready to go again.
3. It's superficial but I love her markings. I think she's a gorgeous unique looking dog.

1 thing to change - I would've said dog reactivity but she's doing a ton better with that. I wish we could magically go back to her and Tipper getting along. Unfortunately that's taking a lot of work (but going really well).

Tipper
1. The cuddles. Tipper cuddles completely melt me. All is instantly forgiven.
2. The sass. I never thought I'd say that but her sassiness is endlessly entertaining. Don't know what it is? BARK AT IT. Don't want to do that? BARK AT IT. Don't want the ball to go that direction? BARK AT IT. I wish the solution to everything in life was to bark at it.
3. Her ability to free shape recently has absolutely astounded me. And she's become so much fun to work with.

1 thing to change - I wish she didn't randomly react to people. Or rather, I wish I knew WHY she randomly reacts to people so I could fix it. I hate it when she get's so scared for no discernible reason, it breaks my heart.

 

[Jare]

Nellie:

Likes:

-She knows what I want her to do without me saying much, or anything at all.
-Shes mostly sweet and calm now, and does well when I am out of the house.
-She is eager to learn new things.

I wish I could improve more on her fear issues. We have worked hard for 8 years and I am not sure she's going to advance much more, and that's fine because we have gone a long way, but, no matter if she will go further or not, we're still working.

Aija:

Likes:

-Shes so friendly to every dog and person she meets. She just wiggles and wants to be the best of friends, but also isn't too pushy or right in your face.
-Her very solid recall.
-Her drive.

I wish we could improve a bit on her controlling her excitement level when she first get out of the kennel in the morning. There is no stopping her, its like instant cannot be controlled, plow over everything without care zoomies.


Beagle:

Likes:
-Shes quiet and sweet and doesn't cause much trouble.
-She gets along swimmingly with every dog shes ever met so far.
-Shes almost always very happy just to be alive.

I am working to improve her weight.

 

[Zhucca]

Dukaroo
-He's literally the easiest, best dog ever. He gets along in pretty much every situation I put him in. A good, solid lab. Even if he is a emotional little teenager.
-He's like playdoe and I do whatever I want with him, even if it's cradling him like a baby.
-His size and general build.

I do not like:
-His separation anxiety

And cause Boomer is pretty much mine too I'll do him:
-His size. He's so big, smushy and I love playing with all his loose skin.
-Biggest baby around. He's definitely a 'mama's boy'.
-His tolerance for rude dogs.

I do not like:
-How big of a chicken he is. He's especially afraid of old people. He's known my grandma since he was a puppy and he only recently stopped running away from her with his ears back. (She bought his trust with ice cubes.)

and heck just because:
McGruff
-He is absolutely perfect. I can't even describe my love for Crime and he's not even mine. LOL we've just bonded so strongly.
-He's so goofy. He just has a great sense of humor and is only serious during *ball time*
-Disgustingly loyal. He has his main people and that's it.

I do not like
-His neurotic tendencies. He's a bit OCD.

 

[AussieAshley]

Desoto:
1. He is hilarious, not a day goes by that he doesn't make me laugh.
2. He is insanely smart, intuitive, biddable and handler oriented
3. He would do anything for his family, he is incredibly loving and loyal, he does everything with his whole heart

Reactivity, it limits so much of what we can do together. It worries me all the time and it bothers me that he has to miss out on thing that I know he would love.

Radar:
1. He is so sweet and a total cuddle bug when he wants to be, all he wants in life is tummy rubs!
2. At the same time he is absolutely tireless, he can hike as long as the big guys and he is always down to do anything I want.
3. He loves to hang out with me but he easily entertains himself, the perfect balance for me

He is fearful and shy at times, basically he had zero socialization before we got him around 5 months old. He goes everywhere with me and he is getting better but it makes me sad to see him scared.